‘What we need is a pause’: Richmond Hill joins York Region in asking Ontario to halt Bill 23 for greater consultation
'We need to send a very clear message on where we stand,' regional Coun. Godwin Chan says
Yorkregion.com
Nov. 28, 2022
Sheila Wang

The City of Richmond Hill has joined a growing number of Ontario municipalities to push back the Progressive Conservative government's proposed housing legislation, Bill 23, also known as the More Homes Built Faster Act.

The new city council unanimously approved a proposal to ask the government of Ontario to put Bill 23 on hold for greater consultation.

The decision was made at the first council meeting on Nov. 23, two days after the nine members were sworn into office.

“We need to send a very clear message on where we stand,” said Regional Councillor Godwin Chan who put forward the motion.

Chan proposed in his motion that council endorse the decision made by the York Regional Council on Nov. 10 to request the province of Ontario to halt consideration of Bill 23 to enable opportunity for greater consultation.

The sweeping legislation, tabled on Oct. 25 right after the municipal elections, would see significant changes to the development approval process in order to achieve the province’s goal of adding 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

It introduced a slew of changes, which critics say would impact the municipal governments’ ability to manage growth in their own communities as the bill was poised to amend a number of guiding policies, such as the Planning Act, the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, the Municipal Act and the Conservation Authorities Act.

While he appreciated the “intent of the bill,” which is to build more homes, Mayor David West said the implications of it would be problematic.

He named a number of issues about Bill 23, from the impact on the environment and protected lands to the diminished role of conservation authorities.

The biggest concern, the mayor noted, was the proposed reduction and limits on the development charges to be collected by the municipalities from developers to build infrastructure to support new residential and non-residential growth.

If Richmond Hill is not provided with alternative financial sources to make up for the differences on the development charges, the city would have to either do without the needed infrastructure or tax the residents to pay for the growth, West said.

“Both situations in my mind are entirely unacceptable,” he said.

It is unclear whether the province would offer municipalities increased funding to fill the budgetary shortfalls created by the housing policy.

The proposed legislation would exempt development charges for the creation of affordable residential units and attainable residential units for non-profit housing developments and for inclusionary zoning residential units.

Rental housing development would see the development charges reduced as well.

"What we need is a pause," West said. "I believe this is cutting into an onion with a chainsaw.

In Richmond Hill, the city anticipates more than $340 million from development charges to fund its upcoming 10-year capital plan (2023-2032), according to the mayor’s statement released earlier in November.
Ward 5 Coun. Karen Cilevitz, who seconded the proposal, said at the beginning of the meeting that a community rally against Bill 23 was planned for

Richmond Hill on Nov. 26 and encouraged the public to seek information on the website of Environmental Defence, a Canadian environmental advocacy group.

Over the past couple weeks, rounds of rallies have taken place across Ontario to oppose the proposed legislation over concerns about the impact on Greenbelt.